Daily Ancestorunehelich
Unehelich means "illegitimate": born to parents who were not married to each other. German baptism registers use it to mark a child born out of wedlock.
An unehelich child was usually entered under the mother's name, and the father's name may be missing. If the mother is described as ledig (single), that confirms she was unmarried at the birth.
Do not stop at the word. The parents sometimes married later, and the child may then appear under the father's surname in later records. In older records ledig itself can also describe a child born out of wedlock, so read the whole entry.
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How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "unehelich." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/german/unehelich. Last checked 2026-10-28.